Ukrainian and Russian officials have traded accusations over who is responsible for the attacks near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Russian soldiers that if they attack the site in the now Russian-controlled town of Enerhodar, or use it as a base to fire, then they will become a “special target”. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “If through Russia’s actions a disaster occurs, the consequences could hit those who are currently silent,” he said in a speech late Monday night, calling for new sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector. “If now the world does not show strength and determination to defend a nuclear power plant, it will mean that the world has lost.” The world nuclear watchdog has warned of disaster if the fighting does not stop. Vladimir Rogov, an official based in Russia in Enerhodar, said on Monday that about 25 heavy artillery strikes from US-made M777 howitzers had hit near the nuclear plant and residential areas during a two-hour period. The Russian Interfax news agency, citing the press service of the Russian-appointed management of Enerhodar, reported that Ukrainian forces opened fire, with explosions near the power plant. But according to the head of the administration of Nikopol district, which is across the river from Enerhodar and remains under Ukrainian control, it was Russian forces that had shelled the town to try to make it appear that Ukraine was attacking it. “The Russians believe they can force the world to comply with their terms by bombing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” tweeted Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff. Russian forces continued to shell towns – Velika Kostryumka in the south and Marhanets – opposite the Zaporizhhia nuclear power plant, according to a report from the southern district of the Ukrainian armed forces on Facebook. Ukrainian forces killed 23 Russian soldiers and destroyed two fortified positions, he added. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports on the battlefield. The United Nations says it has the logistical and security capacity to support a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if both Russia and Ukraine agree. read more Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke by phone with Guterres to discuss conditions for the safe operation of the plant, the ministry said on Monday. “In close cooperation with the organization and its leadership, we will do everything necessary to get the IAEA experts to the station and give a true assessment of the destructive actions of the Ukrainian side,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. But Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy head of the foreign ministry’s nuclear weapons and arms control department, was later quoted as saying it would be too dangerous for any IAEA mission to travel through the capital Kyiv to inspect the plant. read more “Imagine what it means to pass through Kyiv – it means that they reach the nuclear plant through the front line,” the RIA news agency quoted Vishnevetsky as saying. Ukraine, where parliament on Monday extended martial law for another three months, has said for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to retake Zaporizhia and neighboring Kherson province, the largest swath of territory seized by Russia since its invasion on February 24 and still holds.
DEATH PENALTY
The conflict, which has displaced millions and killed thousands, has put a major strain on relations between Moscow and the West. A Russian-backed separatist court in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, indicted five foreign nationals it said were caught fighting with Ukrainian forces as mercenaries on Monday, Russian media reported. Three of the men could face the death penalty. read more Russia late on Monday said a British reconnaissance aircraft violated its air border over a peninsula east of Finland between the Barents Sea and the White Sea, and a fighter jet forced the British plane out of Russian airspace. Britain’s Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” to demilitarize its neighbor and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and Western backers accuse Moscow of waging an imperialist-style war of conquest. Russian forces engaged in shelling to advance on a wide variety of front-line positions in the east and south, the Ukrainian military said late Monday. Even as the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, progress was made on a grain deal to ease the world food crisis created by the conflict, the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the start of the war. The Joint Coordination Centre, set up by the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, said it had approved the departure of Brave Commander, the first cargo of humanitarian food aid bound for Africa from Ukraine since the invasion. He is scheduled to leave on Tuesday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report from Reuters offices. Written by Kostas Pitas and Lincoln Fest. Editing: Rosalba O’Brien, Stephen Coates & Simon Cameron-Moore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
